


in my place (i was lost)

by lydinski (sueraya)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 04:25:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1496593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sueraya/pseuds/lydinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Now, listen closely, dearie,” Rumpelstiltskin whispers to the thief’s throbbing heart. “I need you to give me Regina’s heart.”</p>
<p>“No,” Robin chokes, much to the imp’s bewilderment. “<i>Never.</i>”</p>
            </blockquote>





	in my place (i was lost)

**(Robin.)**

He’s holding his bow far in front of him. His fingers itch to release the arrow, to send it flying straight through Rumpelstiltskin’s heart. Robin hasn’t felt bloodlust like this in a very long time; not since he’d been caught stealing from Rumpelstiltskin’s very castle much too long ago. The man only smiles back at the thief, curling his lips and looking so much like the spiteful imp he’s always been referred as.

“Give me the queen’s heart,” Rumpelstiltskin demands. “I know you have it, dearie, so let’s not waste our breaths.”

“No.” Robin grits his teeth. “You’re not getting anywhere near it.”

“Well, we’ll just see about that, won’t we?” Rumpelstiltskin lifts his hand in the direction of the forest and beckons to the rustling bushes behind him. “Come on out, Roland.”

Robin freezes. His grip on his bow loosens, and he almost drops it altogether. Roland stands in the clearing before him, his eyes fearful and close to tears. Rumpelstiltskin grins at his imminent triumph and calmly rests both his palms over his walking stick.

“Now,” he says, “the heart?”

“No,” Robin replies.

Then, swiftly, he shoots the arrow in the very moment his feet scamper towards his son. He scoops Roland up in his arms and together, they flee the woods so quickly Robin’s quiver thuds against his back with every forceful step. He doesn’t look back to see if his arrow reaches the imp — because no matter where Rumpelstiltskin disappears to, the arrow will never miss its target.

* * *

And it hadn't.

Rumpelstiltskin shows up again with a fresh wound and a viler temper than his last. He bares his teeth at Robin while he shouts, commanding the thief to surrender Regina’s heart. Robin doesn't comply. He shrugs himself off Rumpelstiltskin’s taut grip on his collar and shoves him aside.

“Give me her heart!”

“No,” Robin retorts firmly. “You can’t make me.”

“Very well then.”

Robin doesn't anticipate his next move. Rumpelstiltskin forces his hand through the thief’s chest and easily wrenches his heart out of it. He stares at his own beating heart for a long, speechless moment before Rumpelstiltskin begins to squeeze it. Robin falls to the floor and writhes about, feeling every kind of pain in his body. Momentarily satisfied, Rumpelstiltskin releases his grasp and brings Robin’s heart to his lips.

“Now, listen closely, dearie,” Rumpelstiltskin whispers to the thief’s throbbing heart. “I need you to give me Regina’s heart.”

“N-no,” Robin chokes, much to the imp’s bewilderment. “ _Never_.”

Rumpelstiltskin stares blankly at the heart, confused beyond all reason. There’s nothing more powerful than the compulsion of a heart. Nothing could ever be more powerful than such dark magic, except—

_It can’t be._

It takes David and Emma clambering through the trees for Rumpelstiltskin to vanish into thin air, along with Robin’s heart.

* * *

He doesn't let slip to anyone that his heart is missing; that at any given moment, he could be forced to do something against his will. He could maim anyone unexpectedly, even kill them if he’s unaware of it.

But Rumpelstiltskin doesn't come for him anymore and Roland is safe; everyone is safe. Robin simply takes the quiet days that follow as Zelena being short of time for her next move — which, unfortunately, also means that unless the Witch has been ripping out hearts from the other citizens of Storybrooke, _his_ heart will be used for her scheme instead of Regina’s.

Robin winds his fingers around the square of his pocket, feeling the vacant silence where his heart should be beating. He’s completely tuned out the heated discussion in the diner; David and a few of the dwarves are noisily debating on the Witch’s plans, which is probably why he doesn't notice when Regina approaches him in his booth.

She slides into the seat across from him in the same silence he feels in his chest. Her fingers are curled around a cup of coffee. She doesn't say anything and neither does he, but as soon as they look at each other and he notices Regina’s eyes glowing with the hope of defeating Zelena once and for all, he smiles.

He smiles because she puts his mind at ease; because there is still an unspoken connection despite both their missing hearts, and Robin finally realises that he doesn't regret his actions, not really.

In fact, now more than ever, he actually feels quite willing to sacrifice his own heart in place of the Regina’s.

* * *

Robin makes a last stop before heading back to his camp. It’s a quiet night; too quiet to think about the Witch and her never-ending threats. He’s never asked, but he knows where her house is — everyone does. It’s the biggest house in the whole town, and her colossal apple tree gives away every inkling that it belongs to the Evil Queen. Robin holds the burlap sack carefully in his hands as he slinks soundlessly through the filmy bushes surrounding her mansion.

The infamous apple tree is much when he’s standing right beneath it. He picks an apple and examines it, wondering if any of these fruit are actually poisoned. He takes a bite out of it.

The hole he digs in the ground isn’t very deep, but it’s deep enough to contain Regina’s heart. He’d taken it out of the burlap sack and laid it in the aperture before covering it up with earth. Then he sets the burlap sack carefully on top of the mound of earth and leaves his half-bitten apple on the side of it.

Squinting through the dimness of her mansion, Robin mumbles, “Goodbye, Regina.”

 

 

 

**(Regina.)**

The sky is an ugly shade of green today, and Regina knows exactly what it means. Her half-sister shows up before Regina can even think up her name, cackling at the queen in her witchy laugh. They regard each other sullenly.

“Guess what, sister?” the Witch goads. “I’ve won.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Zelena gesticulates at everyone else standing on Main Street. “You’ll _all_ see.”

She disappears in her signature green smoke, and Regina’s hands drop to her sides. She turns to look at Emma, at Snow and David, and the baffled expression on her face is mirrored in theirs.

“Regina…” Emma says slowly, “…what did Zelena mean when she said she’s ‘won’?”

“I don’t know.” The queen’s lips smooth into a thin line.

* * *

Regina spent the previous night at the Charmings’. It had been puzzling for Henry, but when Emma reassured him that it was because Regina knows firsthand about babies and was there solely to help Snow — instead of the hard truth, which is that she wanted to see Henry before Zelena showed up again — Henry bought into the lie easier than they’d expected.

So naturally, it takes her by surprise when she returns to her mansion to find a half-bitten apple at the base of her favourite apple tree. At first she thinks it’s a squirrel that had fled too soon, but when she moves closer, she notices the familiar burlap sack. It’s empty, and when she brushes off the heap of dirt, her fingers hit the cool membrane of her own heart.

Her brows knit together and she frowns as she picks up her heart. It’s definitely _her_ heart; she recognises the dark blotches all around it to know that it’s hers. Her thoughts wander towards Robin. Why did he return her heart to her? She never asked for it back.

Zelena’s words circle her thoughts next. _I’ve won._

In the Witch’s world, that probably meant that she’s readied her plan. And in order for her plan to succeed, she had required three pivotal ingredients: David’s courage, Rumple’s brains, and…

Regina suddenly feels sick as a possibility dawns on her. She turns her heart over in her hands as if it were a stone instead of a live heart. She wonders what on earth Robin had done. He wasn’t there on Main Street last night, but his son was. Regina could hardly miss Roland — he’s so small, his absence would be great. Even the rest of his Merry Men were there. She’d been so distracted by Zelena’s aimless threats that she dismissed any doubts she could ever have about the thief. Now, however, she doesn't quite know what to think.

She doesn’t want to think about what Robin might have done instead of what he probably should have done, which was surrender Regina’s heart. Instead, she pictures him safe and sound in his camp, laughing about poor forest jokes with Roland and his band of Merry Men.

* * *

Regina half-walks, half-darts through the forest. Robin almost always moves camp that she doesn’t even know where he settles. As soon as she spots a fire, she scurries towards it. Her heart is bouncing in her chest; she’d put it back in there before she came looking for him, just in case she needed an inner boost. She’d even brought the burlap sack, and in it she’d slipped in the half-bitten apple.

“Robin!” Regina calls, running in full speed now.

Zelena is waiting for her by his camp, one arm around a helpless Roland and the other hand coiled around a heart. Robin is nowhere to be found, and neither are his Merry Men.

“Dearest sister!” Zelena squawks. “Did you know that this charming little boy is the thief’s?”

“Let him go, Greenie.” Regina lifts her hands up, a fireball already forming on her fingertips. “This is our fight.”

“You’re right. Indeed it is.”

Zelena releases Roland, and he sprints for the woods. She’s cradling the beating heart in both her hands now, and the sick feeling returns to the pit of Regina’s stomach. She eyes the heart queasily, and Zelena follows her gaze.

“Oh, don’t look so disgusted, Regina. This is simply something I picked up from that dashing thief.” The Witch ignores Regina’s horrified expression. “Robin Hood, was it?”

“What have you done to him?”

“Why do you care, sister?”

“Where is he?” Regina demands and, out of exasperation, her fireball whizzes past Zelena’s red hair.

“Do not test my patience, Regina,” the Witch snaps, giving Robin’s heart a mild squeeze.

From a distance, Regina hears a torturous cry of pain that makes her flinch. She launches another fireball at Zelena’s head, but the Witch disappears as she always does, just like the coward that she is.

Regina realises then that she’s shaking — out of fear and frustration and above all, weariness. She makes her way into the thick forest and calls out for Roland. Within a few minutes, the boy dashes into her arms. Regina hugs him back and holds him tightly; the same way she held little Henry during stormy nights and post-horror flicks.

“Papa,” Roland says, and Regina thinks that it’s the only thing he can say. “Papa!”

“Yes,” Regina agrees, winding her fingers around the boy’s wrist, “let’s go look for him, shall we?”

* * *

They find Robin in the cage at the farmhouse, where Zelena had kept Rumpelstiltskin. Regina turns the only source of light on, and she sees him cowered in terror at the far end of the cage. He seems to have noticed the light, though, and he removes his hands from his face.

“Papa!” Roland cries, and he rushes towards the cage.

“Roland,” Robin calls gently, and then he smiles when he meets Regina’s eyes. “Your Majesty.”

“Robin,” Regina nods back, returning his smile.

She pulls out a nail file from her back pocket and starts fiddling with the lock until it budges, and the cage door breaks open. Robin crawls out of the small space and embraces his son. He raises his arms to do the same to the queen, but he draws back his arms and resorts to sweeping his thumb across her cheek instead.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” Regina replies, her voice slightly wobbly and her body tensing up at his touch, “but we couldn’t get it back, though.”

Robin’s hand subconsciously goes to his chest, and the voidness of it stirs an unpleasant feeling. He picks Roland up and leads Regina out of the musty space.

“It’s all right.” Robin looks out to the vast field before them. It leads straight into the forest. “I’m not worried about it so much.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he says, smiling softly at her, “I’m convinced that with you here — with _me_ , Regina, it doesn’t matter if they’ve got my heart. They can’t get to us.”

“How do you know?”

“Rumpelstiltskin tried to get me to surrender your heart the other day. He had my heart right there in his hand; under _his_ command, but I couldn’t comply with him. It’s as if there were a third force that was pulling me towards it.” _Pulling me towards you_ , he adds silently.

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know,” Robin lies, “but it definitely felt right.”

 

 

 

**(Coda.)**

They defeat the Wicked Witch.

They’d tricked her, luring her into the forest. As Zelena toyed with Robin’s heart, hoping it would threaten Regina, the queen pricked the Witch through the heart with one of Robin’s arrows. It broke in half while it was still in Zelena’s body. The witch only threw back her head and laughed deliriously.

“I expected more from you, dear sister,” she hissed. “Got sick of your fireballs already?”

“No,” Regina spat, “just of you.”

Emma conjured up every kind of magic that sparked in her soul, and Zelena’s green skin melted into green ashes. Rumpelstiltskin was freed of her control, and Robin had gotten his heart back. Regina fitted it back into his chest herself.

“It looks easily done,” he’d said, once he heard it beating in his chest again.

“It _is_ easily done,” she’d corrected.

“Should I be worried, Your Majesty?” Robin fixated his gaze upon her. “How can I be sure that you won’t simply rob me of my heart whenever you please?”

“You can’t,” Regina smirked. “That’s the whole point.”

Robin feigned a frightened expression. “Stealing one of my arrows _and_ breaking it — had that not been enough damage?”

Regina lifted a brow. “You stole one of my apples — _and_ ate it!”

He laughed then; a soft, muted laugh. He skimmed a thumb across her cheek and in reply, she pulled him in for a kiss.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before 3x18 "Bleeding Through", based on a speculation that Robin sacrificed his own heart instead of surrendering Regina's.
> 
> Title is borrowed from Coldplay's 'In My Place'.


End file.
